Omaha, NE – Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says the earthquake and tsunami in Japan could impact markets in Nebraska.

The death toll in Japan is above 3,300 after last week's magnitude 9.0 quake, and the tsunami that followed. Goss says the disaster will have a significant impact worldwide. He says the food and agriculture sectors could be the most affected. "Obviously right now there will be disruptions and that's a significant market for agricultural exports, Nebraska agricultural exports to Japan," Goss says. Japan is Nebraska's third largest export market, behind Canada and Mexico.

Japan is also the world's third largest economy, and Goss says a disaster there will impact the global economy. "What this is going to mean is a repatriation of some of the earnings in some of the Japanese companies. Some of the earnings that might ordinarily stay in the U.S. and result in more planned equipment and expansion here will likely be repatriated in terms of, of course, dollars to yen, and the yen going back to Japan to help assist the Japanese economy."

Goss says it could take Japan's economy a decade to recover from the disaster.